The Transition Team will be away at the Twin Oaks Communities Conference from Aug. 30-Sept 14th and will be unable to reply to any inquiries until Sept 16th at the earliest. We appreciate your patience.

Attention: The Help Desk will be closed from 2/28/17-3/13/17. Review sessions can resume scheduling after 3/13/17 as well. Thank you for your understanding. Keep up the good work on Your Action Plan!

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Why Should I "Listen" to What The Transition Has to Say?

Many don't understand why they should act in a way that is advocated by The Transition when on the surface until they have a better understanding of the organization they feel they have no autonomy in what the organization is proposing because they are asked to follow Your Action Plan seemingly without any say in the matter. However, once they become more actively involved they see how absurd that initial judgement was once they understand that The Transition's roots are based on The Hundredth Monkey theory popularized by Ken Keyes.

The Hundredth Monkey is a theory about how all of us within a species affect one another. A group of monkeys was being studied off the coast of Japan, and one monkey within the group began washing his sweet potatoes in a certain way in the salt water. Soon all the monkeys began mimicking this monkey and doing the same thing. When a given number of monkeys behaved in this fashion, the same behavior began to appear in a group of monkeys hundreds of miles away, even though the two groups had had no physical contact with each other. The Hundredth Monkey symbolized what scientists call the critical mass with the species. It is theorized that once a critical mass number is reached, the same behavior begins to show up in all of the other members of the same species. It seems to be true for all species that when given a critical mass of its members begins to think or act in a certain way, so does every other member of the same species. In Ken Keyes's book, he uses the example of nuclear war and suggests that if enough of us as members of the human species believe and act as if there will ultimately be a nuclear war, then when we reach that critical mass, we will of course create our own reality as a species. On the other hand, if enough of us believe and act as if such an occurrence were impossible, then we can create that reality for our entire species as well.

The invisible connection between all members of a species is more verifiable now than it was a few years ago. Physicists describe it as a "Phase Transition." Scientists report that when atoms within a molecule align in a certain way and a critical mass number is reached, the rest of the atoms spontaneously line up the same way. Just imagine the staggering implications of this fledgling scientific notion- a scientific basis for the oneness of it all, and the idea that if enough of us who share this life-form called human being begin to think and act in harmonious and loving ways, we can affect the entire being called Human Being. The Transition would work within the Human Being, much as it does within a molecule. As more and more align in harmony, the pressure becomes overwhelming, and the oneness of humanity is the winner. And how does it all start? Symbolically, with one monkey picking up that sweet potato and having the courage to behave differently, and then the next, until the critical mass is reached. One person with a conscience actually becomes a majority through this collective consciousness process. How do we begin this journey? You take part in your piece of the puzzle and actively do Your Action Plan!

We all want the same things and therefore should be working collaboratively not competitively. The Transition makes no claim to have all the answers, but by building on the wisdom of the past and unlocking the creative genius, skills and determination in our virtual and grassroots Communities, we know the solutions can emerge!

Our organization and our website is growing at the speed of knowledge and experience. We integrate the wisdom of our Contributors daily to our site that we receive via our Suggestion Box, Report Portal, and direct feedback given through our Contact Us page. The Transition Team who helped found The Transition and maintains the website consults with experts in their fields that have decades of experience in various topics ranging from Intentional Community living to grassroots organizing. we aren't the smartest people in the room, but we are probably friends with the people that are, and work diligently to seek out individuals who can help us improve and serve you better!

The Transition as a movement represents one of the most promising ways of engaging people and Communities to take the far-reaching actions that are required to mitigate these foreseen shocks. Furthermore, these re-localization efforts are designed to result in a life that is more fulfilling, more socially connected and more equitable than the one we have today. The Transition model is based on a loose set of real world principles and practices that have been built up over time through experimentation and observation of Communities as they drive forward to reduce carbon emissions and build Community resilience.

Underpinning the model is a recognition of the following:

• The challenges of our time require urgent action

• Adaptation to a world with less access to cheap fossil fuels is inevitable

• It is better to plan and be prepared, than be taken by surprise

• Industrial society has lost the resilience to be able to cope with shocks to its systems

• We have to act together and we have to act NOW

• We must negotiate our way through these challenges using all our skill, ingenuity and intelligence

• Using our creativity and cooperation to unleash the collective genius within our local Communities will lead to a more abundant, connected and healthier future for all.

The Transition believes that is up to us each BUD to step into a leadership position on this situation. Together we can make a difference.

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This website is dedicated to the children who follow after us. May they inherit a fertile and abundant world filled with people who honor the diversity of life teeming around us: from the tiniest microbe, to the wondrous animal kingdom, to the beauty of human community.